Combining elements of metal, industrial and some punk, Deadstar Assembly whip up memories of listening to "The Loud Show" on my local radio station in Salt Lake City back in the early '90's from 10 pm to midnight on Monday nights, in which time they played a mix of industrial, metal, punk, and anything that was considered, well, loud.I can't decide how much of this is really considered industrial, how much is metal, and how much is just alternative rock however, but I guess it doesn't really matter. It's easy on the ears (for the initiated) and flows well from track to track. It sounds like Stabbing Westward covering KMFDM, with elements of Ministry's Rio Grande Blood and Faith No More's Angel Dust thrown in for good measure. I especially enjoy the vocals, which have a full band sound, the grinding but steady guitars, which also manage to throw some melodic notes into the mix, giving it more depth than just grind, grind, grind track after track, and the electronic polish they've thrown on the whole package.
On the downside, I was hoping for a little more of a punishing sound the likes of the second track to hide the Evanescence feel they have going for them, especially during the slower, more ballad driven tracks like "Perfectly Destroyed" and "Bled."
For some Ministry flavor, try the second track, "Unsaved, pt. 2", and for a complete Stabbing Westward sound, try "Naïve". I was also pleasantly surprised by the Faith No More jaunt as found in "Pale Blue", which has that harder edge I like. For fans of any of the aforementioned bands, Unsaved should add a nice little slot to your industrial/metal collection.
